Eddie Bane

The Angels on Thursday promoted national cross-checker Ric Wilson to scouting director, a position that opened when the team fired Eddie Bane in September. Wilson, 51, who will oversee the scouting and signing of amateur players, served as the team's national cross-checker since 2003, the same year Bane started with the Angels. Bane reportedly has been hired as a Detroit Tigers scout. Prior to joining the Angels, Wilson spent 11 years in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization as an area scout, area supervisor and West Coast supervisor.

The Angels clearly landed the biggest fish in baseball this season in rookie phenom Mike Trout, the outfielder who is making a push to win the American League most valuable player award, but they and their fans got a painful reminder Thursday night of one who got away. Matt Harvey made his big league debut for the New York Mets, allowing three hits and striking out 11 in 5 1/3 innings of a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. The right-hander's fastball touched 98 mph and he showed a sharp curve, the kind of electric stuff that should make the 23-year-old a force in the Mets rotation for years to come.

Reporting from New York — The Angels' top pitching prospect, Garrett Richards , is set to make his major league debut Wednesday. That could make the Angels' 2009 draft even more special, but the scouting director responsible for selecting those players is long gone. The Angels had four of the first 42 picks that year. Mike Trout , the outfielder considered one of the two best prospects in baseball, was one. Tyler Skaggs , the pitcher who was the key to the Dan Haren trade, was another.

Reporting from New York — The Angels' top pitching prospect, Garrett Richards , is set to make his major league debut Wednesday. That could make the Angels' 2009 draft even more special, but the scouting director responsible for selecting those players is long gone. The Angels had four of the first 42 picks that year. Mike Trout , the outfielder considered one of the two best prospects in baseball, was one. Tyler Skaggs , the pitcher who was the key to the Dan Haren trade, was another.

The Angels clearly landed the biggest fish in baseball this season in rookie phenom Mike Trout, the outfielder who is making a push to win the American League most valuable player award, but they and their fans got a painful reminder Thursday night of one who got away. Matt Harvey made his big league debut for the New York Mets, allowing three hits and striking out 11 in 5 1/3 innings of a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. The right-hander's fastball touched 98 mph and he showed a sharp curve, the kind of electric stuff that should make the 23-year-old a force in the Mets rotation for years to come.

The Angels appear to be focusing again on moving their spring home to the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear. "We'd like them to come to town in 2006," Goodyear Mayor Jim Cavanaugh said. "We're ready to move." Cavanaugh said Bill Beverage, the Angels' chief financial officer, recently called city officials and alerted them team executives would resume negotiations shortly.

Torii Hunter was just trying to do what big leaguers usually do on minor league rehabilitation assignments, pay for the postgame meals during his stint with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga last week. So how was Hunter rewarded for his good deed? With a nasty case of food poisoning that knocked him out for a day and delayed his return to the Angels until Sunday. Wednesday night's meal, from an Italian chain restaurant, left Hunter with stomach cramps, vomiting and nausea and kept him up all night.

New scouting director Ric Wilson said Monday's selection of Utah slugger C.J. Cron in the first round didn't necessarily signal a shift in the team's draft strategy away from high school players and toward more advanced college players. But Wilson's actions seem to be speaking much louder than those words. USC pitchers Austin Wood and Logan Odom were among the 23 college or community college players the Angels selected with their first 29 picks of the draft, which ran through the 30th round Tuesday.

The Angels plan to take a look at Aroldis Chapman , the Cuban defector with the 100-mph fastball . . . if he is willing to face a hitter. Chapman was granted free agency Friday. The Angels will join the stampede to scout the 22-year-old left-hander, with the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox among the clubs expected to rush in as well. "I'm sure we'll be interested," Angels scouting director Eddie Bane said. "I think everybody will be interested." Bane said he has heard that Chapman might throw for scouts in a bullpen session or two, then invite offers.

New scouting director Ric Wilson said Monday's selection of Utah slugger C.J. Cron in the first round didn't necessarily signal a shift in the team's draft strategy away from high school players and toward more advanced college players. But Wilson's actions seem to be speaking much louder than those words. USC pitchers Austin Wood and Logan Odom were among the 23 college or community college players the Angels selected with their first 29 picks of the draft, which ran through the 30th round Tuesday.

The Angels did not let a little shoulder tear deter them from their top target in the first round of Monday's draft, using the 17th overall pick to select college slugger C.J. Cron . The 6-foot-4, 230-pound first baseman hit .434 with 15 home runs, 26 doubles and 59 runs batted in as a junior at Utah despite playing the entire season with a tear in his right (throwing) labrum. Cron, 21, said the injury "didn't affect my swing much," but when asked on a conference call if it would require surgery, Cron said, "Yeah, something will have to be done eventually.

The Angels on Thursday promoted national cross-checker Ric Wilson to scouting director, a position that opened when the team fired Eddie Bane in September. Wilson, 51, who will oversee the scouting and signing of amateur players, served as the team's national cross-checker since 2003, the same year Bane started with the Angels. Bane reportedly has been hired as a Detroit Tigers scout. Prior to joining the Angels, Wilson spent 11 years in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization as an area scout, area supervisor and West Coast supervisor.

Scouting director Eddie Bane said the Angels are "fairly close" to an agreement with their top pick from the June 7 draft, but he expects negotiations with Georgia high school third baseman Kaleb Cowart to go right up to Monday's 9 p.m. PDT signing deadline. "It's going to come down to the last day — we knew on June 7 that it would probably be a last-minute deal, like it is with most of the top guys," Bane said Wednesday. "He's a great kid. We know he has options, but we think we're the best option.

As Bud Selig bestowed the All-Star game upon Anaheim two years ago, he tipped his cap to Arte Moreno. The Angels had been so wonderfully invigorated by their new owner that Selig called the club "a model for all our other franchises." Yet, when the All-Stars take the field at Angel Stadium next week, the host team almost certainly will not be represented in the starting lineup. That would be a rarity. In 2005, the Detroit Tigers had no starters, but they had not had a winning season in 12 years.

The Angels plan to take a look at Aroldis Chapman , the Cuban defector with the 100-mph fastball . . . if he is willing to face a hitter. Chapman was granted free agency Friday. The Angels will join the stampede to scout the 22-year-old left-hander, with the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox among the clubs expected to rush in as well. "I'm sure we'll be interested," Angels scouting director Eddie Bane said. "I think everybody will be interested." Bane said he has heard that Chapman might throw for scouts in a bullpen session or two, then invite offers.

Angels scouting director Eddie Bane isn't much for convention. "I'm a little bit of a maverick, I guess," he confessed. So he wasn't about to play it safe Tuesday, gambling the team's first first-round draft pick in three years on Texas high schooler Randal Grichuk, a slugging outfielder many draft-watchers considered a second-round selection at best. "Everybody has a good opinion. But we can't worry about [that]," said Bane said, who took Grichuk with the 24th overall selection.

Torii Hunter was just trying to do what big leaguers usually do on minor league rehabilitation assignments, pay for the postgame meals during his stint with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga last week. So how was Hunter rewarded for his good deed? With a nasty case of food poisoning that knocked him out for a day and delayed his return to the Angels until Sunday. Wednesday night's meal, from an Italian chain restaurant, left Hunter with stomach cramps, vomiting and nausea and kept him up all night.